“We’re still assessing the extent of the damage.”

“We’re still assessing the extent of the damage.”

There’s been a hurricane. The governor of your state is giving a press conference to talk about the results of the storm. A reporter asks how bad it was. The governor doesn’t exactly know yet, so he says this.

English speakers often use this word in the phrase “the extent of the damage”. After some kind of accident or disaster, you have to check the extent of the damage, which means how badly things are broken and messed up. For example, a car mechanic can check the extent of the damage to your vehicle after a car crash.